Lit Flicks Wrap Up

Lit Flicks might officially be over (Sept 08 – Feb 09) but it will always be something I do.    I like to read the books that inspire films.   I want to thank Jessica for a great job with this challenge; the organization, the comments of support and all the monthly activities.   I also wish to thank Blake for the accompanying challenge and all the work and giveaways he offered, as well.   APPLAUSE, APPLAUSE!!

 

I’m not going to link up my reviews but if you are curious enough to want to read my rambling thoughts on all of these, please click over to my page called BOOKS I’ve READ and the titles/links are there.   You can also use my search somewhere down on the right sidebar.

HOW DID I DO?

Well, I think I did very well on the read-book-then-watch-movie side of the Challenge.     I certainly exceeded the count required!    But as to the opposite, if that is what Blake was going for:   watch-movie-based-on-a-book,-then-read-book…    I didn’t do so well.     In fact, I did not see any movies within the time frame where I also later read the book within the time frame.

I would like to test my theory that if I see the movie first, I’m disappointed with the book.    Actually, that is NOT true.   I can only say this is true for Stardust.   Movie was a delight and the book was good but not awesome for me.    But, the two books I read for this challenge that I read after the film,  Mystic River and The Orchid Thief, both reads were very good.      Honestly, The Orchid Thief is NOT the movie,  rather it was a seed of an idea and a whacky adaption/extrapolation of fancy on the part of the screen writer.   Brilliantly done, it must be mentioned, but the movie Adaptation is NOT a straight retelling of the book.    I suspect the same could be said for the Curious Case of Benjamin Button – but I shouldn’t comment on that.  I only read half the short story and just couldn’t motivate myself to sit in a theatre trapped for a 3 hour showing no matter how great it supposedly is…

Without further ado, my LISTs:

Titles – Book Read & Film Seen within Time Frame:  (read 5 and see 2)

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

Coraline

Cimarron

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

The Bridges of Madison County

The Remains of the Day

and, I hope to see this TODAY!   Persepolis

 

 

Oops!   A PLAY Read & Film Seen within Time Frame:

All About Eve / The Wisdom of Eve

    

 

Movies Watched Prior to Reading Book: (For Blake’s Challenge: see 5, read 2)

Mystic River

Adaptation (film) and The Orchid Thief (nonfiction book)

     

 

Movies Watched And Books I Hope To Read Someday: (I didn’t track this category very well.    I’m trying to go through all the movies I’m Netflix’d but they don’t have a sort by year and so it’s a bit tedious.)

Slumdog Millionaire

21

Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Brokeback Mountain

A Good Year

      

 

Books Read a Long Time Ago and Recently Viewed the Film:

Prince Caspian

The Color Purple

Empire Falls

 

     

Books Read and Yet To See the Film:

The Tale of Despereaux

Marley & Me

Twilight

Anne of Green Gables

The Road (not yet released)

Julie & Julia (not yet released)

     

 

Books Read a Long Time Ago and Yet to See the (recent) Film:

The Reader

Secret Life of Bees

Kite Runner  - in house!  arrived yesterday from Netflix

 

 

Hey Lady! Ever Been to Montana?

Hey Trish!    Are you getting a bunch of hits on that review you wrote about Montana 1948 by Larry Watson ?

Hey there, Care!    I am getting a ton of hits on this post, what do you think is going on?*

Well, Trish, I’m thinking that some school some where just assigned this as required reading in some English class or something.    And they are here to find out if they can go online and get a good idea of whether or not they really have to read it or not.   Maybe even borrow some thoughts on plot or character development or maybe even symbols.   At least, I think that’s what I would have done if I had had an interweb to use for research way back in my dark ages pre-computer high school.

Do you think I’m being a bit negative?

Well, Care, yes, yes I do.   Maybe you should do some research on whether or not the publisher has re-released it or some other great wonderful news about the author?    Ever think of that?

Oh, yes, Trish, great idea.    I jumped to a conclusion, didn’t I.   Give me a second….

[Care's typing fingers scurry off to consult the world wide web of all things wonderful while all wiley wild readers groan at the silliness and lameness of this post.]

Um, Trish?   The Simon & Schuster webpage has quite a few exciting new developments about a few of Watson’s novels being released in audio format.   Most are dated late 2008 and but I didn’t see anything so recent as this week to explain how many hits I’ve gotten TODAY on my review of Montana 1948  - and I must note, how many hits/clicks were sent here from my comment on YOUR post…

Care.   How many hits are you talking about?

Uh, less than 20 – but this is HUUUUGGGGE for me.    [Care smiles in a 'please be impressed, ok? whatever manner']

Care, I agree, I’m getting some traffic, I hope that is means that more people are interested in this book - cuz it’s terrific! - and I love the hits.    But, please.   I’ve got a Slanket to giveaway, so let’s just enjoy the attention, shall we?

Ok, Trish!   Ok.   Thanks for chatting with me!    But don’t you wish that someone would COMMENT and tell us WHY they are searching for this book?   and if they like what we wrote?????       maybe, we should ask Jessica…

Good NIGHT, Care.

 

 

TRUE STATS for this book at this blog this week: 

6 hits today, 2 yesterday

Search term:     montana 1948 quote reviews   –   2

My review is here.

No, hubby has yet to read it.    I gave it to my friend Christine way back LAST SUMMER and I mention that here to see 1.  if she’s reading this and 2.  if she will hurry up and read the book!

Hey Lady’s blog is 7th on the list, first page!  if you google for ‘Montana 1948 Larry Watson’ and I gave up looking for my blog after the 12th page….

*   Trish at Hey Lady was caught totally unawares by this post and all conversations on the part of ‘Trish” have been fabricated by the imagination of Care.   All apologies extended…

Review An Unfinished Marriage

Review    An Unfinished Marriage  by Joan Anderson, 2002, 223 pages

“I’ve come to understand that I am as unfinished as the shoreline along the beach…  That is the great message… to transcend ourselves again and again and to know that those with whom we come in contact are in process as well.”
- from the Prologue

 

Do you allow books to pick you?    Ever wonder how some books come into your life and if it is a sign?   I do.   

This book picked me.  I was sitting in the cubicle at the library where I tutor and I caught this book staring at me.   I casually picked it up, read the back, flipped it open and enjoyed the prologue.   So I checked it out and let it jump in the car for the ride home.   (We also picked up a stray math book, too.    That’s another boring story.)   

However, before I lead you on to believe that this book touched my soul or delivered any lightening-bolt messages from the universe, I don’t think it did.   I can’t say I enjoyed the book; I’m not sure I could relate to the main characters, but I will say I took a ton of notes.     All good little quips and anecdotes and meaningful phrases, but not really as it applies to any needed enlightenment on the state of my marriage.      Just as applies to life and all that good crapola stuff.

“In a world of broad strokes and neon signs, we tend to forget that true learning comes from our own impulses.   The secular age provides few tools to help us interpret the experience of life.  Change begins with taking ourselves away from the clutter in order to hear what one’s heart needs to say.”

Joan Anderson’s first book was about how she took a year off from her marriage to reconnect with herself.  [ A Year by the Sea; I did not read this.]    This second book is how she and her husband come back together to reconnect and redefine themselves as a couple.    The first few chapters, she doesn’t hold back, sharing every little doubt and concern and feeling.   I felt like I was spying on her!   By the end, I was rooting for them both and their shared dedication to make their marriage work.     

“Muddy Water / Let Stand / Becomes Clear.”
                                                                     –  Taoist saying

I don’t know if this was just a diversion for me and a reminder to get back to fiction or what exactly I wanted the universe to tell me with this book.    I do think that a couple who is experiencing empty nest syndrome and needs a comforting challenge to rethink a marriage when the kids are no longer underfoot might enjoy this book.     Maybe it was a reminder or an anticipation of visiting the beaches of Cape Cod?     I’ll just continue to share some of the quotes I wrote down in my journal:

“As the hands toil, so the spirit is raised above the troubled motions of the mind.”   – the author’s Grandmother

“Get out and actualize your potential, create something out of nothing.  That’s where the joy is.”   – Joan Erickson, the author’s mentor

“Reach for the fullness of life.   If you  but touch it, it will fascinate.  We live it all, but few live it knowingly.    – Goethe, Faust

“… learn patience and the laws of nature.  When you sail, you’re at the mercy of the wind.   There’s no quitting when you’re caught in the irons – you just have to wait it out and drift along.”

“… treasure hunts for the soul.”

paraphrased:   something about  never knowing ‘truly in love’  if never run out of things to talk about with intended mates, …”and I’ve always measured the depth of my connections by thoughts shared.”

 Confluence is a magical thing.

The most compassionate people in real life are those who did a lot of playacting as children.    “You’re required to understand the motivations behind another’s actions,” she said, “and to have sympathy for their plight.  Along the way an enormous compassion develops.”  – Joan Erickson

 

and, as I type this, I’m working at the real estate office playing ‘substitute receptionist’, there’s a plaque on the wall:

Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning how to dance in the rain.

 

Note To Self

Preview  Note to Self: On Keeping a Journal and Other Dangerous Pursuits by Samar O’Shea

The March Mini-Challenge (Devised here by Ms Nymeth) for the Dewey Challenge is to read something NEW to me.    A piece of this challenge is to pair up with another mini-challengee and ‘discuss’ or do something, as long as we post about it.

My partner is Jessica of The BlueStocking Society!   I’m quite excited to pair up with such an impressive blogger.   We compared our goodread.com “to-read” lists and came up with this book.    It’s nonfiction – which I read a lot of but it’s also a writing how-to (I think) and I have not read much of this subgenre.    I know that I have never read any journalling books – which I guess could be a subsubgenre?   Yea, whatever.   So, that is why this book is new-to-me.    Jessica mentioned that she would like to read more nonfiction so if I’m to guess, this will be new-to-her for that category.  Golly, I’ve not read any Samara Shea (until I prepped for this post; you can access her blog from Amazon.) so that also would make this new-to-me.

I had originally placed this on my wishlist due to a 4 star rating by my friend over at the 1330V.

The product description says this:

Keeping a journal is easy. Keeping a life-altering, soul-enlightening journal, however, is not.

I’m not sure I agree with this.    It sounds too absolute, too black or white.  I’ve been keeping a journal off and on since I was 12 and though many times I have written many pages a day and sometimes barely a page over the span of a month, these scratchings of ink on blank paper are my way to connect with my self and get outside of myself.   They are also a way for me to crawl into my own head and look around.    Sometimes my journals are sparse and barely a place to keep to-do lists and sometimes, when I travel, they are exceptionally vivid and captivating recollections of where I’ve been, what I’ve seen and the emotions those places evoked within me.     I have barely-legible dream descriptions written in the middle of the night and I have obnoxious ramblings as a result of a bit of too much wine before taking pen in hand.     I have written letters to my future self and have attempted to discover the child I used to be.   I have bawled and cried and laughed and been extremely silly.   I have worked out problems every which way and through and I have celebrated my daily living as well as the big accomplishments.      These books cover my many crazy years of scrawling my experiences of the mundane and the lively.

[Yes.  I will really need to lock these away and provide instructions of what to do with them upon my death.    Burning, is what I'm thinking.]

So, will I learn anything by reading this book?    Oh yes, I’m sure I will.     And, will I argue or agree at the conclusion that not all journal-writing is life-altering and soul enlightening?    Is the question one of purpose?   or results versus process?

We will see; I will just have to wait and find out.

DO YOU KEEP A JOURNAL?   Do you agree that keeping a life-altering, soul-enlightening journal is difficult?     Is the challenge to have an ongoing life-altering soul-enlightening journalling experience?

“An unexamined life is not worth living.” – Socrates

Movie The Bridges of Madison County

When I wrote my review of Waller’s novel, The Bridges of Madison County, I mentioned that I had never seen the movie.    I chose this book-to-movie experience because I was able to purchase the book for 25 cents at a library sale and knew it would be easy to Netflix the film.

I’ve now completed this experience and can check off one more for my Lit Flicks Challenge.

Recipe Tuesday: Amazing Coconut Pie

This recipe is dedicated to my friend at Lightheaded Books and is  straight off the package of coconut…

AMAZING COCONUT PIE
2 cups milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk baking mix
4 eggs
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1  1/3 Coconut

HEAT oven to 350 degrees.
PLACE milk, sugar, baking mix, eggs, butter and vanilla in blender; cover.
BLEND on low speed 3 minutes.
POUR into greased 9-inch pie plate.
SPRINKLE with coconut.
BAKE 40 minutes or until pie is set and top is golden brown.
COOL on wire rack.
STORE in refrigerator.

It’s great for people intimidated by pie crusts – it makes its own so you don’t have to.

Review MAUVE

Review   Mauve:   How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World by Simon Garfield, 2000, 200 pages.

William Perkin was a young English lad who wanted to be a chemist.   However, chemistry was a pure science and his father did not see a future in chemistry (it wasn’t ‘practical’)  – why couldn’t he study architecture and go into the family construction business like his big brother?

Fortunately, Will was lucky enough to be in a school that encouraged his pure science interests and he was able to learn with some of the best instructors around…     In 1856, he was barely 18 years old when he was ‘playing’ in his personal laboratory attempting to create an artificial version of quinine for the treatment of malaria.

What happened, however, was a result that was just too pretty to be dumped in the trash as a failure.    Repeating the process and sharing it with a buddy, he wondered if he could indeed have found a marketable product: a dye -  a vivid new color for clothes, drapes, wallpapers, what have you.

He called it mauve.

Once Queen Victoria (and the Empress Eugenie in France) discovered mauve, the concept of must-have NEW and EXCITING colors took off like wildfire.    William eventually became Sir William Perkin, a father of industrial chemistry and a very wealthy man.

How it happens and the history of all the other factors* of the times, including commercial competition, environmental and health issues, technological advancements, and the fickle fancy of consumers makes this a fascinating study of a subject we take for granted now.

What color would you like that sweater? Before the late 1800′s, it was an issue of whether or not such colors even existed!      At least, the process of recreating colors into dyes.      And the process that started it all was due to Mr. Perkin and his use of coal-tar, the sludge left over from burning coal.

And not only color for dyes, but his process helped understand the relationships of molecules and elements and formula which eventually advanced into syntheses for all sorts of products – each year brought new findings and the chemists like to appreciate Sir William Perkin as the guy who started it all.    Of course, some would say ‘he sold out’ but his impact on the field of chemistry was more than profound.

Garfield really did his research.   He started each chapter with fun and clever quotes of the word mauve throughout history.     He gave terrific examples of many aspects of the dye industry both then and now and as a way to explain the wealth of nations.     I had no idea the extent and importance of color dyes and the companies that control them.      My only complaint would be a few references that were not thoroughly explained – or perhaps I missed it somewhere prior?   Anyway, I will accept half the blame on these minor distractions.

This is the kind of book that when you read it, you want to share every interesting tidbit with those around you (and thus bore and distract them from whatever they are doing!)

“Hey Hub!    Perkin got his Honorary Oxford degree at the same ceremony that Mark Twain got his for literature!”

“Hey Hub!   Remember those annoying BASF commercials years ago when they never ever said what the heck they did?      WE DON’T MAKE THE PRODUCTS, WE JUST MAKE THEM BETTER.”    huh?     They were one of the very first commercial dye companies.”

“Hey Hub!   This dude’s son did some great chemistry stuff, too.   He invented a way to make cheap flannel cloth flame-retardant.”

“Hey Hub!  Cheap dye companies didn’t rinse out enough of the arsenic and since they were cheaper, poorer people bought the fabrics and since they didn’t bathe very often, they would DIE when they sweat and thus arsenic absorbed into their bodies!   DOUBLE WHAMMY – another example of how the poor are taken advantage of for the sake of profit.

Oh, just go read the book.

Please click on this website Ingenious.org featuring the color in question (I prefer to re-direct you in case of copyright issues…), the true Perkin Mauve,  the color discovered by Sir William Perkin.

Very pretty, isn’t it!

notice:   I can’t find the link to the Science Book Challenge – perhaps their server is down?   Will fix as soon as I am able.

WORDS
naff - Considered to be poor taste; Bad; tasteless; Something that is poorly thought out, doesn’t really work, or is otherwise not very good.   “No more sauve mauve creations turning naff pink in daylight.”

parvenu – nouveau-riche: characteristic of someone who has risen economically or socially but lacks the social skills appropriate for this new position.  “By today’s standards, his family would be judged parvenu middle class.”

mordant – black: harshly ironic or sinister; “black humor”; “a grim joke”. A reagent, such as tannic acid, that fixes dyes to cells, tissues, or textiles or other materials.

pittical – a deep blue

too many other fun color names – it boggles the brain!

*  A friend who had just read Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, told me that many wildly successful people were not only intelligent but also at pivotal points in time and space and opportunity.      Just from knowing that, I would make a bet that Sir Perkin would easily fit in Gladwell’s book as an Outlier.    The right time, the right place, the right ambition to exploit it all.

Library Loot – Third Week in Feb 2009

Library Loot is jointly hosted by Eva and Alessandra.     Three books followed me home from the library this week.    

Usually, I’m only there to tutor my Lusophone friend (who doesn’t believe this is a real word, fyi.)    I do pick up books I’ve reserved from the online catalog service they offer but I rarely lollygag around and just look for books.   But today, we had a conflict / miscommunication so I was all alone with a few minutes to kill.     And…   as I was sitting there enjoying but not riveted by my current read, I noticed a book staring at me.

  An Unfinished Marriage by Joan Anderson, 2002, 223 pages

… A unique, tremendously moving and insightful entry into the literature of marriage, [this book] will provide salutary* shocks of recognition and fresh hope for all women and men negotiating their own marital passages.   (from the back cover)

Anderson’s first book, A Year By the Sea, reminds me some of  Eat, Pray, Love by Liz Gilbert.   She took a sabbatical from her marriage and chronicled her experience, and now this book discusses how she and her husband get back together.   I’m curious…

♦

And, then I thought about my upcoming assignment:

  Geometry & Trigonometry for Calculus:  A Self-Teaching Guide by Peter H Selby

Squeee!    I need to find out if I am ready to be a Math Tutor this summer.    I will attempt a problem every day.  Starting later today.   Maybe.   Or Tomorrow…

♦

and, the last book was on the $2 BOOK SALE ROLLCART:

 The Island of the Colorblind by Oliver Sacks, 1996, 266 pages

I’m hoping this will qualify for The Science Challenge?    Here’s what the back cover says:

“An explorer of that most wondrous of island, the human brain,”  writes DM Thomas in The New York Times Book Review, “Oliver Sacks also loves the oceanic kind of islands.”  Both kinds figure movingly in this book – part travelogue, part autobiography, part medical mystery story – in which Sacks’ journeys to a tiny Pacific atoll and the island of Guam become explorations of the meaning of island, the genesis of disease, the wonders of botany, the nature of deep geological time, and the complexities of being human.

 

 

WORD
* salutary - good: tending to promote physical well-being; beneficial to health; Unpleasant, but ultimately providing a useful lesson; Promoting good health; wholesome; curative.

Coraline the Movie

NARTO = Not a Review;  Thoughts Only…

.

I read the book for many a good reason:   one, because it was highly recommended by Nymeth; two, it was written by Neil Gaiman (thus the Nymeth rec!); and three, I heard they were making a movie!!     This is for the Lit Flicks Challenge.

The digital 3D animation is lovely.   The story is delightful in so many ways.   I can’t say it was scary for me but the mom who saw it with me assures me that her 4 year old and 6 year old daughters would NOT have enjoyed it because of the creepy factor.   (I allow that some kids this age might love it!    Kids are different and I hate to typecast the little rugrats.)     And though I won’t say I was scared, I was on the edge of my seat and squirming, wishing Coraline would HURRY UP!  in that one scene…

***   SPOILERS AHEAD !!! ***

If you want to read the book and have not read my review, I think this is a safe place to be diverted.     And if you have read the book, I might be ruining your movie watching experience if you continue to read.  Probably not, though.   So, only go further if you really dare!   I won’t mind if you go away now.   Really, it’s OK…

In case you didn’t know, I read the non-picture BOOK and not the graphic novel.    Some people don’t realize there are two print versions of the story…

I’m going to now discuss the DIFFERENCES between the book and the visual/audio experience.    The story definitely introduced a new character named Whybie that was likely essential to how it unfolds on screen but both annoyed me (Hey!  He’s NOT in the book!) as well as delighted me because he was woven into the story very effectively.

Let’s talk about Whybie a bit.   His full name was Whyborn.   ISN’T THAT JUST THE SADDEST NAME?!    Ah, poor kid!   Just thinking about how some one could stick a name like that to a kid that basically asks “why the hell were you born?  to complicate and ruin my life?!?!”   oh, makes me sad to explore this idea.    Maybe due to this past week’s Weekly Geek theme on names and what they might mean?      (Feel free to ask if my negative reaction to this is some depraved reflection on my life!?   Hmmmm.

So Coraline meets Whybie early in the story and he, of course, can’t listen to her admonishment that her name is CORAline Damn it and not Caroline…   and he says his Grandmother lost her sister to the house that Coraline now lives in.   So we have a neat tie in to the ghosts she will meet and eventually rescue.

Did I mention the visual colors and characters and how it all unfolds is lovely?  and delightful?   IT IS.   Very pretty, well done.   The gardens were awesome in the other world!

This feels like a choppy review so I’ll wrap it up.    The story is different but effectively stays with the story with only a few new props (the spyingdoll?  I didn’t remember this either) to introduce and tidy it up at the end.     The prude in me was almost shocked at how scantily clad one of the sisters was in her trapeze act – her enormous ginormous breasts barely had blue pasties on to conceal the fact she wasn’t totally naked.    But then, the ‘real’ thin actress eventually peels off this fat-costume in her show’s finale.    But still – I was rather amused at the amount of skin showing and my reaction to it.

My favorite parts were the beginning when Coraline is bored and trying to get her parents to pay attention to her.    I thought her actions and words were spot on – the book AND the movie captures this brilliantly.

I didn’t have the same voice in my head for the cat.   And I was disappointed that they didn’t include the conversation with said cat about how he didn’t need a name.    He just didn’t seem as cool as the book cat.     The voice of the Other Mother, however, was very good!   She was all sweet and light at the beginning and quickly became scary menacing and downright MEAN.

Overall, very fine flick – fun, beautiful, thrilling!     I was not disappointed.

Rambles and Recipes

I am not sure if I often treat you to one of my extreme rambling posts but Marineko has one that is really good and I have much to quickly yap about.

First, I have been giving you a recipe on Tuesdays because I have been enjoying Jessi’s posts and I had to share that antipasto with you.    But today’s is a simple one that you might not have the opportunity to try right away – it’s not a ‘meal’ or a casserole and you probably have it in most of your cookbooks already.   Rather it’s THOUGHTS on a recipe:   My Thoughts on MERINGUE.

I love to make pie.    I am not, however, an excellent pie maker.    I never get them to come out beautiful.     And I often cheat with the crust – I buy the roll-out ones from the store brand that are likely made by the same company that makes the expensive brand that shares the same shelf in the refrigerated compartment at the grocery…   I am concerned with the insides.

For Valentines Day, I made Lemon Meringue.      I fear meringue.    Can’t figure out at all how the fancy places make it look so incredible!     This batch actually tasted good – very light and sweet.  But the plopping and spreading and manipulating the stuff is impossible!   I managed to smooth it to the edges and ‘seal’ the pie but I couldn’t seem to create any nifty swoops and crests and points.    It looked so…. blah.

My mother-in-law says that the little bronzy beads (aka ‘weeping’) that form on meringue is a FLAW and shouldn’t happen.    My book says the beads form if you put meringue on a cool pie.   My pie was hot when I attempted to smooth it.     I believe the beads happened overnight after I had it in the fridge overnight.  [no photo.]   I don’t believe it was a flawed!    I like the drama, maybe.    Anyway,  I need to buy a book on all things pie – anyone have one to recommend so I can get this explained?   I suppose I could google and do my own research but I do want to buy a PIE book and there are many to choose from.   I would love a personal recommendation. I probably need a PIE BOOK FOR DUMMIES since most recipe books assume I know waaaaaaaaay too much!

My meringue recipe is:
3 egg whites – at room temperature
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
6 Tblsp sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Beat egg whites at high speed with an electric mixer until soft peaks form.  With mixer running, add the cream of tartar, then gradually add the sugar, a tablespoon at a time, and beat until stiff peaks from.   Beat in the vanilla.

Pile atop pie, and bake at 350 degrees F for 12-15 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Enough about pie already.

I haven’t been reading much.     Ever get put off by a book from the very first word?      It was ‘there’.      I know I had a teacher somewhere back in my life that told me never to start a sentence with the word There.     And for a book to use it on the very first page?!    I’m so sad.    And it has thoroughly dampened my enthusiasm…

I’m still enjoying Mauve by Simon Garfield.    I’m just not sitting with book in hand…

I am covering the phones at my old office since it’s school vacation.    The receptionist needed a bit of a break.   It’s EASY peasy work – the phone rang 6 times.   I only had to transfer to voice mail twice.     I almost feel bad taking their money to do this!   almost…   [Oops!   a few of the employees/owners of the office may even be reading this!   HI!]

Something exciting?!    A few things:   ONE, I’ve been asked to tutor Trigonometry this summer – fun, huh.   and TWO, someone has contacted me about possibly providing some info on Oscar’s breed (Wirehaired Pointing GRIFFon) for a segment on Animal Planet.   I’m cautiously super excited about BOTH of these new happenings in my life.

What else?   I saw Coraline The Movie last night.    Review soon.

I have been starting and saving a bunch of posts lately and they are languishing in my draft bin.     I also have not checked my Reader which means I haven’t been visiting you in a few days, doesn’t it?       Sigh.

Now, GO READ SOMETHING!     As Kim says –>   *smiles*